Cherry Blossom In Bloom
by UzumakiMitoChan
Summary: What if Ino Yamanaka never came into Sakura Haruno's life? What if instead she befriended a certain Akatsuki member, Sasori and gains the attention of the rest of them? Sakura-centric, and SakuraxAkatsuki (In a family kind of way). Rated T for now until later chapters. Enjoy!
1. The Red-Headed Savior

It was another beautiful day in Konohagakure as Sasori of the Akatsuki inconspicuously walked through the bustling crowds of villagers. He committed the village layout to memory while quietly cursing his partner for his morbidly eccentric ways. "Damn that Orochimaru." He muttered, letting a prick of killing intent flow from him, causing villagers to unknowingly clear a path. The quiet peace was shattered, however, when a piercing wail followed by the pitter patter of small feet interrupted his thought process.

Completely bored with the village and it's citizens, Sasori set off to leave, figuring he had gathered enough information. He was stopped by the most peculiar sight. A small child, no older than three or four with bright pink hair and delicate features fighting with another child at least twice her age. If that wasn't strange enough it seemed like the pink-haired child was winning. With his interest piqued Sasori stepped toward the haphazard brawl, intent to put a halt to it and learn more about the girl. For information's sake. He told himself as he felt something stirring inside him at the sight of her heart-shaped face stained with tears. "Excuse me, can I ask why you all are bullying this young girl?" He questioned in a hardened voice full of authority. The older girl fighting the pinkette fought to reply.

"U-um ano, we were just playing around! R-right Sakura-chan?" She lied horribly. Mentioned girl looked up at Sasori with eyes so fiercely determined that he was surprised.

"No Shinobi-san, they've been bullying me about my forehead, and we were just fighting." She replied calmly, although with his trained eye he could see her lip quiver. At that moment he didn't know what possessed him to do it, but he turned to the other children and said, "If I see any of you picking on Sakura-san again, there will be trouble. Understand?" The look of utter shock and gratitude on Sakura's face was worth it for a reason he could not define. This is a worrying development. He thought to himself as that same feeling stirred in him again. Protectiveness. He labeled it. For some unfathomable reason, he wanted to protect this small girl, this Sakura.

Turning to said girl he simply uttered, "follow me," before turning around and swiftly walking away. She ran to try and catch up, but he sped up even more. He wanted to test her speed. By the time she caught up to him she was heaving for breath and sweat had broken out across her wide forehead. He had led her to a small clearing filled with tall grass and hundreds of wild-flowers. Beckoning the tired girl closer he sat down in the soft grass, and she sat next to him.

"Why did you help me Shinobi-san?" She panted out, still out of breath. Instead of answering her question, he asked her a question.

"You want to become a ninja, do you not?" He replied. Her eyes widened as she stuttered out wonderingly.

"How did you know?" Confirmed in his inane reasonings he replied.

"You lack stamina," it was a harsh, but true criticism and her whole frame dropped in weary sadness. Her face began to show the tell-tale signs for crying, but before she could let a sound escape, he quickly went on, "but that can be easily fixed with the proper training." She instantly brightened before darkening again.

"But I don't start the ninja academy until six." She pointed out.

That's so old. He thought, but replied, "you will need to begin your training now if you wish to succeed."

Hopelessly she cried out, "but who would train me?" The question gave him pause as he thought about it. Surely I cannot do that, I shouldn't even be thinking of it. I should just knock her unconscious and leave. I've completed my mission, and need to get back. But once again that emotion of protectiveness flared up inside of him, and he found himself saying,

"I will."

She looked at him disbelievingly for a moment before a blinding smile overtook her face. "Really!" She shouted.

"Calm down." He said irritated. To his surprise, she somberly replied.

"Yes Sensei." He found he didn't like being addressed so.

"Call me Sasori-sensei." He said, and his only reply was a nod. I can't believe I'm going to do this. "First I'm going to teach you how to meditate. You need to learn how to picture your chakra, and call it forth. You do know what chakra is, right?" He asked hoping he didn't have to start from the very beginning.

"Hai Sasori-sensei, chakra is the elemental life energy a ninja uses in jutsu, it's the source of all their power. This energy has two forms, physical, which exists in all the body's cells, all working together, and spiritual energy, the primal source of power, which is intensified through training and experience. These two types of chakra are drawn out together in order to perform jutsu. Finally hand-signs focus and release the chakra." She prattled off automatically. Impressed by her intelligence, he showed her the proper signs for meditation, and got her started on the visualisation process.

"Now visualise your chakra, feel it at your core. It will feel like a quiet fire, simmering, and barely burning. The goal is to try to amplify that feeling, to intensify the fire before spreading it all throughout your body." He watches in amazement as right away the girl calls her chakra towards the surface, and displays it in a dazzling show of control. After a few minutes the chakra quickly dies out, and the girl falls into an unconscious heap. "Chakra exhaustion." He mumbles to himself. Her chakra wells aren't fully developed, but what can I expect with one as young as her. But the control she exhibits over the tiny amount she does have is astounding. He thought to himself as he picked up her skinny form.

He startled when he felt her awakening in his arms. "Sasori…" She tried to say. He shushed her.

"If you wish to continue training, then meet me here at three o'clock everyday. Don't keep me waiting though little girl. I hate being kept waiting." He said sternly.

"Hai." She whispered before passing out again. He shook his head as he teleported back to the village. He set her down on a bench and went to leave before another unknown emotion made itself known. Fondness. He bent down and slowly removed her hair from her large forehead. "Goodbye for now my Cherry-blossom." He whispered before disappearing.

~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~

When Sasori finally got back to base, he was five minutes late. An unprecedented amount of time. "Ah, Sasori-san, you're late." His annoyingly amused partner purred.

"I had more important business to attend to." He replied emotionlessly.

"Oh? Does this business include helping a little girl with her bullies? How noble of you Sasori-kun." Orochimaru chuckled. Sasori glared icily at him while thinking, how could he have known? I didn't sense anyone else's presence with us.

"You think it amusing to mock me Orochimaru, but know one thing, I tolerate you only on the orders of Leader-sama. Do not test my patience. You will not like the results." He hissed out before swiftly turning and walking briskly away.

"That girl, what was it Sakura-chan? Yes, she would make a most interesting subject for my newest experiment…" Before he could finish Sasori was behind him with a kunai to his throat.

"You will not touch that girl. She now belongs to me, and I will cultivate her into the perfect Leaf Village spy." He sneered out, but even as he said those words, he couldn't bring himself to believe them. What is wrong with me? Orochimaru began to chuckle loudly.

"As entertaining and enlightening as this has been Sasori-kun we really must stop with this trivial quarrel and report to Leader our findings." Orochimaru crooned. Sasori narrowed his eyes before putting away his kunai, and turning.

"Then let's go." He said simply before jumping off into the foliage. As they left Zetsu emerged from the ground with a smirk on his two-toned face.

"Interesting. We'll have to report this to Leader-sama. That girl, Sakura Haruno is her name. She looks delicious. I'm sure Leader-sama will want to hear about Sasori's sudden change in interests."

Things would be changing very soon to the unknowing young Sakura's world.


	2. Training Young Sakura

**Hello Everyone! I'm updating again, and I think I'm going to try and update this story once every week. I don't know how long I plan for this story to be, but my goal is to make it to about 30 chapters, so better get ready for a long one! Thank you so so much to all who reviewed! Just so you know, please log in so I can respond to your reviews at the bottom of the chapter! Thanks so much for your like of my story, I appreciate it! Well enough of that, on with the story.**

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Chapter 1: Training Young Sakura

When a young Haruno Sakura woke up in the morning, she prepared herself for more of the mental torture her adversaries put her through. She'd always considered herself a strong girl, and never let their cruel words shake her, but after years of repetition, they had begun to take their toll. But all her distress was for not because that day she met her savior, a beautiful angelic man whom she now called 'Sasori-sensei.' He had defended her when no one else would, and even offered his tutelage for no price. It seemed his kindness knew no bounds. So with that new mindset and positive perspective, Sakura got up early and dressed quickly so she wouldn't be late for her training session.

When she got down-stairs, she greeted her mother happily and sat down at the table. Her mother was surprised to see Sakura up so early, and in such a good demeanor, so she asked her daughter what was going on today for her. "Well mom, I've been thinking about what I want to do when I get older, and I've decided… I want to be a ninja. I want to be a kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf so I can protect myself and all my precious people. Including you and daddy!" Sakura exclaimed with a soft smile.

Her mother was shocked into silence for a few seconds before replying worriedly, "Are you sure that is what you want? A ninja's life isn't a safe and easy one, especially for a kunoichi."

"Yes mom, this is exactly what I want. As a matter of fact I already have someone willing to teach me!" She said proudly. Although a nagging thought in the back of her mind warned her against telling her mother about Sasori._ What if he's not allowed to teach someone as young as me, and gets in trouble._ So she revised her statement, "Er, what I mean to say is, I'm going to ask someone to start teaching me."

"Oh," her mother asked interestedly, "and who are you thinking about asking?"

"Well," she replied after thinking about it, "I think I may ask Umino-sensei, because he's already teaching academy students, so what's a couple years difference?"

Her mother nodded in a relieved fashion, happy that she would ask Iruka because she knew he would be a very gentle and slow teacher towards her beloved daughter. "Well if this is truly what you want, I have no objections. Just don't forget to talk to your father later tonight about all of this." Her mother said sternly.

Sakura nodded resolutely before getting up from the table and rushing out the door. She quickly yelled "I love you!" towards her mom and started off towards the barely-awakening street of Konoha.

* * *

Young Sakura had been rushing off into the forest of Konoha towards her and her sensei's designated meeting place when a heart-breaking sob echoed throughout the area. Worried and curious, Sakura went to go investigate.

When she got to the source of the sad noise she found a young boy about her age with golden blonde hair, and big blue eyes weeping on a small swing. She approached him carefully as not to startle him and asked gently, "What's wrong kitsune-kun?" She called him kitsune for the three whisker marks marring each of his chubby cheeks. The boy stopped crying to a moment as he regarded the girl with a weary glare. After a moment of staring, he decided she was no threat, and proceeded to cry more.

"Shhh, don't cry Kitsune-chan. It's okay." Sakura tried to comfort him by holding his hand. Suddenly he spoke.

"You, you shouldn't t-talk to m-me. You'll be hated too! Haven't you h-heard? Everyone thinks I'm a d-d-demon!" He wailed.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. What could he even be talking about? She saw no demon! "What's your name? Mine's Sakura Haruno!" She exclaimed with a happy grin. The boy calmed down a bit at her smile and offered his tentatively.

"I'm N-Naruto Uzumaki." He stated.

"Well Naruto-kun, from now on me and you are gonna be friends!" She declared boldly.

Then almost like a switch Naruto smiled widely at her before heartily agreeing. "And you know what? We should become ninja together!" She said.

"Of course Sakura-chan! Don't you know? I'm gonna become the greatest hokage, that way everyone will stop disrespecting me and acknowledge me for how amazing I am! That's my dream!" He said loudly. She giggled at his exuberance before getting an idea.

"Hey Naruto-kun, I'm being trained by my new sensei today. How about every lesson I learn from him, I'll teach you?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah! Dattebayo!" He whooped in joy. She laughed again before remembering she was now late to meet her sensei.

"Sorry Naruto-kun, I gotta go! I'm late to meet my sensei! Meet me here in a few hours!" She yelled as she jumped up and ran.

* * *

Crap. Crap. I'm late! I hope Sasori-sensei is patient… Although something tells me he isn't. She thought to herself before finally coming into the huge clearing. She panted for a minute before a smooth deep voice startled her. "You're late." She jumped out her skin before turning around excitedly.

"I'm sorry Sasori-sensei, I was helping a new friend I met in the forest!" She explained quickly.

"A new friend?" Asked Sasori, not liking the idea that someone was taking his blossom's attention already.

"Yeah, his name's Naruto Uzumaki, and he's bullied just like me, except worse. Everyone calls him a demon, and I think even my mom told me to stay away from him one time! Even the adults are mean to him. How sad is that? But that's okay, cause I said I'd be his friend, and that we'd be awesome ninja together, and he wants to be the hokage, so I'll be his advisor-" Sasori quickly held up a hand to stop her incessant talking when something got his attention.

"A demon they say? What does he look like?" He asked, prodding her.

"Well he's got golden blonde hair, and pretty blue eyes. Oh! And he's got three little whisker marks on each side of his cheeks! It's so cute! That's why I called him Kitsune-kun, cause he looked like an adorable fox!"_ Could it be the Nine-tailed Jinchuuriki? Possible. Hmm, I'll have to report this back to leader. Maybe this venture won't be so useless after all._ With that thought, he leaned down towards little Sakura and patted her on the head.

Giving her his gentlest smile he said, "Very good Sakura-chan, keep being Naruto's friend. Become very close friends with him okay?"

She naively agreed, happy that her sensei was proud. "So what are we doing today Sasor-sensei?" She asked.

"Today we'll work on your stamina, and endurance. First we'll do stretches, then basic exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, and lunges. Then we'll go for a run for about an hour, just to test your endurance. After that I'll show you the proper stances for your punches and kicks, and you'll perform those katas a hundred times each. "

"A hundred times!" She exclaimed, appalled.

"Sakura," she flinched at his scathing tone, "I want nothing but perfection from you by the end of your training. I will make you the strongest kunoichi of your time. I only want one thing in return."

"What's that Sasori-sensei?" She asked softly.

"When I ask you things, you must answer with honesty and completely." He stated simply. She sighed in relief; that wouldn't be hard.

"Okay!"

"Anyways, after those katas, we'll end it by working on your flexibility. After two weeks, if you've improved we'll move on to kunai and shuriken practice. But that's only if you improve, and that doesn't mean we'll stop with you endurance training. That means we'll be adding precision practice to mentioned training. Any questions?" He paused, and when she shook her head he said,"then let's get started."

They trained the whole morning and half the afternoon away. By that time, Sakura was exhausted. She was disappointed to find out she could only complete 32 sit-ups, 17 push-ups, and about 25 lunges on each leg. Her hour run was abysmal at best as she had been out of breath after 20 minutes of solid running. It was the katas though, that were the worst. It had been easy to memorize each stance and perform them. It was Sasori that was the perfectionist who made sure to criticise every single one until each was perfect every time.

When they finally made it to the flexibility test, Sakura was pleased to find herself being incredibly flexible, even more so than Sasori-sensei, which he proudly praised her for. So in a spur of the moment decision, he taught Sakura some flips like a cart-wheel, back handspring, and back-bend walkover.

As she lay out tall grass panting and tired, Sasori walked over to her and sat down. "You did very well for you first day. Your strength is incredibly lacking, and your endurance is mediocre at best, but you flexibility was impressive, and your determination was admirable." He both criticised and complimented.

"Thank you Sasori-sensei, for everything. If not for you, I don't know what I would have become." She replied in kind.

He chuckled, and patted her sweaty forehead. "Go home Sakura. Get some rest, then meet me back here for training at the same time. Don't be late this time, or there will be punishment." He warned.

She sat up quickly and said, "oh! I almost forgot! Sasori-sensei, is it okay if I teach Naruto-kun what you teach me? He wants to be a ninja too!" She asked loudly.

There was a long pause before, "Of course. But you mustn't tell him who I am, or anything about me. Understand?"

"Yes Sasor-sensei!" She exclaimed brightly before bounding off into the foliage with a wave goodbye behind her. He shook his head before realizing something.

_Did I just laugh?_

* * *

When Sakura finally made it to her and Naruto's tree, she was excited to see that he was standing there waiting. Upon seeing her, his face lit up brightly. "Sakura-chan! You came!"

"Of course I did," she laughed before her face went serious, "okay what sensei taught me today was hard. You need to be willing to not give up, no matter what! Okay?"

"Okay Sakura-sensei!" He piped loudly. She laughed at his title for her before instructing him as Sasori had instructed her.

"What's a kata?" He asked, in the middle of her instruction. She sighed, this was going to be a long training session.

* * *

~Timeskip because the author is lazy~

As she finally trudged on tiredly towards home she was stopped by the sound of footsteps behind her. Whirling around, she came face to face with a tall man in a bright orange mask. He wore the same exact coat her sensei wore. "Sasori-sensei?" She questioned, but revised herself when she saw the man's black hair. "Who are you? Do you know my sensei?" She finally asked.

The man leaned back before getting right in her face. "Tobi's name is Tobi!" The man cried out loudly, causing her to jump back. "And yeah I know Sasori-sempai! He's so cool!" Tobi exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. She winced because his voice reminded her of the girls that would follow the Uchiha brothers around.

"O-oh, that's nice. Well I gotta get home Tobi-san. So I guess I'll see you some other time, ne?" She said before hurriedly running off.

The man just stood there for a moment before a dark chuckle came from him. "Sakura-chan eh? Interesting little one. I'll make sure to keep a close eye on her. After all, Tobi's a good boy." He voiced deeply before fading into the darkened shadows.

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**So that's all for now! I would like to thank my reviewers:**

**MOONBunnie K: Thanks so much for the review, as you can see, I've updated. Hope you like it!**

**xXChemicalKatXx: I really loved you insightful comment. Thanks so much for the compliment! I'll try to keep Sakura as ic as possible. Please enjoy the update! :D**

**Anya Ishikawa: Lol the wait is over! Glad you enjoyed the story, keep reviewing and tell me what you think!**

**Guest-san: I don't know who you are, but thanks for your encouragement! It's much appreciated!**

**And with that said and done I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please leave your comments, thoughts, and critics in that wonderful review box! :)**

**~Mito-Chan**


	3. Encounter With An Uchiha

**Hey Everyone! Merry Christmas! (I know, I'm so late! .) I hope everyone's enjoying their holiday break. Since I have nothing to do now, I've decided to update. Thanks so much to all my reviewers both old and new! So I've taken redrose3443's suggestion, so shout out to you! Enjoy! :)**

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~Three Months Later~

**Splash! Chink!** "Aww Sasori-sensei! I was almost all the way across!" Sakura pouted as she stepped out of the small lake, soaking wet.

"Had you been concentrating more, you would have been able to dodge Sakura-chan." Replied Sasori in a calm even tone.

It had been a little over three months since Sakura had started Sasori's training regiment. She had completely forgotten her encounter with the mysterious man that was somehow connected to her sensei. Even if she hadn't, she had become completely immersed in her training schedule. Her body had completely transformed itself. She was no longer the small wisp of a girl that she used to be. Of course, she was still considered petite, but now she had considerable muscle mass for a young girl her age. She no longer felt like passing out after just warm-ups, and by the time she was done with training, she had plenty of energy to go teach Naruto her lesson for the day.

Speaking of him, she thought to herself. _He's been improving rapidly. I'm actually a bit jealous. The things it takes me weeks to learn, he learns them in a few days. His learning curve is insane_. Her training had been added upon exponentially. First Sasori had started her weapons training; first with kunai and shuriken. When she perfected her aim with both accuracy and precision, they moved on to more specialized weaponry like senbon. With her physical training came mental and educational training. Sasori taught her the shinobi principles, the history of Konohagakure, Amegakure, and Sunagakure.

Although Sakura wasn't a huge chakra powerhouse, she knew how to use her control to perfect almost any task given to her. Not to mention she was an incredibly intelligent young mind.

"Sakura-chan, are you even listening?" Said Sasori in a dangerously low voice.

"O-oh, of course I was Sasori-sensei!" She exclaimed nervously.

"Then what did I just say?"

"Um just that you were impressed with my amazing-ness.?"

"Increase you laps. Now you will run 50 laps."

"What! But-"

"60 laps."

"Hey stop tha-"

"70 laps."

"..."

"Much better. Anyways, I said that today we'll start on putting your katas to use in your taijutsu styles." Said Sasori.

"Really! Yeah, finally!" Yelled Sakura.

"Calm yourself child."

"Yes Sasori-sensei."

For weeks Sakura had been perfecting stances and movement. Finally they had come up with 3 different styles that fit Sakura's personality. There was basic academy style that she'd need to know when she entered, then something she liked to call "Tsunade Style," because it's modeled after the great Sannin herself. The first represented her fierce determination to never give up because it was surprisingly the hardest ot learn. The next represented her fiery temper and iron control because of the explosive damage that came with the style, and the precision she needed to use it. Finally her own style of movement which she dubbed "Migoto Kaze." (Beautiful Wind.) It was a mixture of both styles, but it added more flips and graceful movement. She enjoyed that style best because it suited her the most. She was known for being quiet and demure, so the movements embodied that part of herself, yet the damage inflicted upon her opponent combined her control, rage, and determination. Her body was small, so she couldn't put as much power into punches for her Tsunade Style as she wanted. The basic academy taijutsu was more top heavy than anything, and as stated before, she just didn't have that kind of strength; at least not without chakra.

Another technique Sakura had learned was how to gather chakra in her limbs to reinforce her punches and kicks. _With practice, I could surpass Tsunade-sama!_ She thought excitedly. She was snapped out of her thought when Sasori heaved and heavy sigh. "What's wrong Sasori-sensei?" She questioned innocently.

"Your mind is obviously not focused enough to carry on with this lesson. Go start your laps. After you finish, you may come back here and begin working on your Migoto Kaze." He stated. Her shoulders drooped in disappointment, and she cursed her lack of concentration.

"Sorry Sasori-sensei, I was just thinking of all the progress I've made these past few months." She said guiltily.

"Aa. But you'd make even more progress if you'd listen." He snapped. When she flinched, his scathing look softened and he leaned down to ruffle her hair. "Go do your laps, then we'll continue training." He said quietly.

She grinned up at him. "Yes Sasori-sensei." And with that, she ran off to run laps around Konoha.

* * *

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Screamed a familiar voice. She rolled her eyes at his flamboyance.

"Hey Naruto-kun." She replied, not slowing her pace.

"Is your sensei making you run punishment laps again?" Questioned Naruto.

"Yes. I wasn't paying attention." She rolled her eyes again.

He giggled. "Ya know, one day I'd really like to meet this sensei of yours."

She quickly veered off that subject. "So how's the search for you own taijutsu style going?"

"Oh Sakura-chan! Don't remind me! I've got the academy style down pat, but I just can't find another style that suits me." He complained. She sighed. She felt bad for not telling him about her own personalized style, but Sasori-sensei had told her not to tell anyone, or else she'd cause too much attention towards herself. And Sasori-sensei was always right.

"Well why don't you come up with your own style? Ya know something that suits your personality." She suggested. _Just because I can't tell him about mine doesn't mean I can help him with his own._ She thought to herself.

"What do ya mean Sakura-chan?"

"I mean like… well you're unpredictable, crazy, and wildly hyper!"

"Was that a compliment?"

"What I mean is match your movements to your personality."

"I still don't understand…"

She sighed exasperatedly. "It's like match the way you act with how your body moves. You are always all over the place, and no one can possibly predict what you're gonna do next. So why not use that to your advantage? Why not make up a style where your body will be in constant motion? And I mean not in the flowing and graceful way; in the sudden jerky way that you always are when you move. Do ya get it now?"

There was a long silence before, "Okay Sakura-chan, I'll try!" He said enthusiastically. She smiled gently before waving good-bye, and increasing her pace. She wanted to get done before mid-afternoon so she wouldn't be home late. Otherwise her parents might get suspicious as to where she'd been going. Right when she went to turn her head back around, she ran into a solid wall of flesh.

"Oof!"

"Hey~! Well what do we have here?" Came a gentle but masculine voice. She looked up to see an older guy, probably 10 years older than herself with inky black hair, dark opaque eyes, and chiseled features staring back at her. An Uchiha. She thought to herself, remembering hearing many girls swoon over mentioned features.

"Who're you?" She asked softly.

"Who am I? Who am I! Why I'm the great Shisui Uchiha. At your service my flower." He exclaimed lavishly.

She stared for a minute. "Uh… huh. I'm Sakura. Sakura Haruno." She replied in kind.

"Ah~! What a beautiful name for such a beautiful little girl!" He cried out. "And what might one pretty girl like yourself be doing?" He questioned.

Not liking the sudden attention, she stood up, and prepared to begin running again. "I'm training." She replied curtly before taking off.

She sighed in relief as she watched his form grow smaller and smaller, and she turned her head to concentrate. Only to come face to face with Shisui once again. She startled a bit before trying to ignore him. "Gotta finish these or sensei'll be mad." She muttered quietly to herself.

"Aw, who's your sensei? I could explain how you had to keep me company for a bit! Ne?" Shisui said.

"That's none of your business." She replied icily. "And I don't want to keep you company. I want to train." She added before increasing her pace to a dead sprint. He easily kept pace with her though. Damn my short legs! She cursed in her head.

"Well that's all you had to say! Sure, we'll train." The man replied happily before picking her up by her waist and poofing away.

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Sakura finally exploded when they arrived on a training ground. Training ground 3 to be exact.

"Well~! You said you wanted to train, so let's train!" He said.

_Hmm. This could be an opportunity to fight against someone other than Naruto, who's too easy to beat, and Sasori-sensei, who I can't compete with at my current strength._ She thought. "Alright fine. But taijutsu only, I can't really do any other ninjutsu except academy level stuff, and from that vest, I'd say you're at least a Jonin. Pretty unfair to fight a Genin-in-training, ne?" She baited. When he just smiled brightly at her and didn't take the bait, she dropped into her basic academy taijutsu style. They stared at each other for a few moments before she raised her eyebrows. "I'm definitely not going to be the first one to attack. You rank higher than me, it's only fair." She reasoned.

"I suppose you're right Princess." Replied Shisui. She scowled at the nickname, but stayed silent. There was a moment's hesitation before,

**"Shunshin No Jutsu."**

Her eyes widen for a moment when he suddenly appears in front of her, and she's forced to back-flip in three concise circles to avoid the senbon thrown at her. She immediately noticed the poisoned coating, but was relieved to find it was only a paralytic mixture. So he's definitely not going easy on me. Time to bring out the heavy hitters. With that thought she shifted into her Tsunade Style stance and charged. She augmented chakra through her legs that gave her a burst of speed that could rival Shisui's own, and almost smirked when she saw his eyes slightly widened at her display. Then she gathered chakra in her fist and slammed into the ground beneath her. SHANNARO! Her inner self screamed when the ground split for her like butter. As chunks of earth and dust flew, making the area around them barely visible, she made a Bunshin to take her place and went on with her plan. **"Doton: Shinju Zanshu No Jutsu."** She whispered. Tch. Doesn't even feel threatened enough to activate Sharingan. She thought to herself as she sank into the ground.

Shisui Uchiha was surprised. There weren't many who could keep up with him in the village, and so when this young girl, not even Sasuke's age almost matched his speed, Shinshun No Shisui was surprised to say the least. He was so focused on her astounding strength that he barely dodged her next attack.

Her hand shot out of the ground beneath him, and once again he was surprised because the Headhunter technique was a C-rank. For a girl not even in the academy probably; it was unprecedented. It was then that Shisui decided that this girl, whoever she was, is a prodigy.

She didn't know what happened, but one minute she had been smirking to herself for catching him off guard, and the next she was pinned with a kunai to her throat. "Wah.."

"In your moment of celebration when you thought you had won, I took the advantage and won our spar." Explained Shisui.

Her head was spinning a bit from the fast movement he just displayed, but she nodded nonetheless. "I see. Thank you Uchiha-san, I'll be sure to work on my… arrogance." She replied sourly. She motioned for him to let her go, and he obliged her. She rubbed her arms where he had her and stalked away.

"Hey~! Princess, where ya goin?" He yelled after her. She turned angrily on him.

"Since you saw fit to interrupt my training, I'm now late to see my sensei, and he hates waiting!" She shouted without thinking.

"There's that sensei of yours again. May I ask who he is?" Shisui inquired.

"No you may not." She replied lowly before attempting to walk away again; only to once again walk into a wall of flesh._ Dammit! What now!_ She creamed on the inside. On the outside, however, she reacted instantly flicking out her left leg, augmenting chakra in it, and delivering a devastating blow to the person in front of her. Normally, this hit would knock even the biggest man off his feet, but this certain person was not normal.

No, the person that young Sakura had the unluckiness to hit was Itachi Uchiha himself. Prodigy and heir of the Uchiha clan.

"Why me?" She whimpered to herself before inclining her attention towards his imposing figure. "I apologize Uchiha-san." She demurely bowed her head. She once again began to leave before she heard him speak.

"I wish to fight you."

That stopped her short. She slowly turned around, fire burning in her eyes. "Look I don't know what's up with you Uchihas, but you pompous ways and attitudes are pissing me off. I don't even know you, and you're acting like we're old friends. Plus the fact that I'm only 5 years old, and you're like twenty, calling me princess? It's creepy, please stop." She hissed at Shisui, then continued her onslaught. "And you! What, you think that just because you're a clan heir you can demand whatever the hell you want and I'll bow to your will?! Well news flash, I don't care who you are, I don't care where you come from, and because of you people, I'm late to meet sensei, and he's gonna be mad. I hate you." She raged before running away as swiftly as she could manage.

The two Uchiha men stood there for a moment in astonished silence. Shisui then grinned at Itachi. "Wow~! Princess has backbone! Did you see that Itachi? Isn't she just amazing?" Shisui gushed.

"Refrain from making such disgusting commentary Shisui." Itachi intoned.

"It looks like someone's interested. Maybe you can finally get yourself a girlfri- Ack! Itachi! Why'd you try to kill me?!" Shisui fake sobbed.

"You disgust me." Before he turned away.

There was an awkward silence while Shisui caught up with him.

"Itachi."

"What is it?"

"She is skilled."

"Hn."

"I wonder why she was so angry."

"Maybe it had something to do with you interrupting her training for your childishness."

"Or maybe it was something you did!"

"..."

"Itachi?"

"I merely wanted to spar with the girl."

And if Shisui hadn't known any better, he'd say that Itachi was almost pouting.

* * *

"Crap! Sasori-sensei's gonna kill me!" She panicked as she sprinted through the forest in a desperate attempt to get to the clearing on time.

"Hey! Pretty Blossom-chan! Tobi finally found you!" Called a voice.

Kami must hate me. She bemoaned her fortune. "Tobi-kun." She replied in a resigned manner.

"What's wrong Blossom-chan?" He asked/shouted.

She winced before replying, "I'm very late to see my sensei, and as such I don't have time to talk right now Tobi-kun."

He tilted his head for a minute before, "Well, I'll take you there really quick." He said excitedly. Before she could ask what he was talking about, she was once again grabbed by her waist and whisked away in a transportation jutsu.

* * *

They arrived in a flurry of wind, whoever it was, they were incredibly powerful. It was just Sasori's luck that he would run into someone powerful. As he prepared himself for battle, circling the scroll that would summon Hiruko, he was shocked by the appearance of a man clearly from his organization, holding his precious student Sakura by her waist.

When she saw him, she turned a brilliant shade of red, and at first he figured it was embarrassment, but then she raised her fist, and he saw the faint outline of blue chakra surrounding her tiny fist.

"SHANNARO! What the hell gave you the right? Get the hell off me Tobi before I pound your ass into the ground!" She screamed shrilly and he cringed. The Killing Intent she was releasing was enough to make any genin fall to their knees in fear. He'd have to help her with that later.

He forced himself to come back to the situation at hand. He had already determined that his student was in no danger from this man, and even though there was a malevolent chakra radiating from the man, it was not directed towards her at the moment. With that thought he calmly walked over to the two; Sakura was still in the midst of her rant, while the man, Tobi, was pretending to cower.

"Please release my student and slowly step away from her." He said softly. Dangerously. Just because he was no threat, it didn't mean that he appreciated the man touching his student so casually. Sakura looked at him as if he had just delivered her the world and Tobi quickly put her down.

"Ahh! Please Sasori-sempai! Tobi was just trying to be a good boy and bring Blossom-chan to him so she wasn't late!" Sasori was beginning to become annoyed with the man, so with a flick of his wrist, he released Hiruko and geared up to attack.

Suddenly that malevolent chakra he had been feeling before came to the forefront, and Tobi released a bit of killing intent. "My, my Sasori-sempai such interest in the little one will be reported to Pein-sama and dealt with." He turned to Sakura who was frozen under his monstrous chakra and killing intent. "I hope to see you soon dear Sakura-chan. Oh~! And may I suggest agreeing to train with those young Uchiha boys? You may need it someday." He hissed, and she whimpered when she saw a flash of the Sharingan through the hole in his mask.

As soon as the chakra and KI had appeared; it vanished, leaving Sakura terrified and Sasori wary of exactly who this man was. He had a theory, but it seemed a bit too impossible to be conceived. This man's chakra was more malevolent than even the Kyuubi Kitsune itself. The only explanation he could think of was that this man, whoever he is, was not human. The notion that this man was watching and interested in his Sakura sent unpleasant shivers down his spine. _I will do everything in my power to protect her until she is strong enough to protect herself._ He thought about the Uchihas that Tobi had mentioned. _I suppose it is time for her to begin comparing her skills to others. The Uchiha most likely. I could probably arrange for her to fight more talented children like herself. The Hyuuga, Nara, and Inuzuka seem like likely choices as they have the flow of Taijutsu when it comes to the Hyuuga style that could help to better advance Sakura-chan. Then there's the Nara, who could help improve her intellect- not that it needs much improvement, she's a genius in her own right. And finally the Inuzuka; with their brash strength and speed, she will be pushed tremendously past her limits… That's exactly what she needs._ Sasori concluded.

Sakura, on the other hand was on a completely different thought pattern._ So… so strong. Scary. I'm scared. Why is Sasori-sensei just standing there? Get this guy away from me! I'm so scared, Sasori-sensei help me!_

_**Shut up.**_

The thought itself was so startling to hear that Sakura physically jumped.

_Who-who are you?_

_**I am you. The innermost you. You can call me Inner.**_

_Why'd you tell me to shut up?_

_**Because you're being weak again. After all that work that Sasori-sensei put into our training, you're gonna call to him for help like some scared little damsel? Well news flash Pinkie! We. Are. Not. Weak! Not anymore, and not ever again! Put yourself together and make our sensei proud.**_

She thought for a moment, reflecting on Inner's words.

_Yes. Yes I am no longer weak. I will become the strongest Shinobi that Konoha has ever seen. This is for Sasor-sensei._ She thought. She quickly began the handsigns.

_Inner?_

_**Yes?**_

_Can you see if we have enough chakra to perform this? Even with all my control this still takes a bit more than half of my reserves. Do we have enough?_

_**…I could just take away any exhaustion you may get while performing the jutsu. It'll still be there, you just won't feel it now.**_

Sakura thought about it. _Okay, do it_. She replied as she finished the final sign.

**"Doton: Retsudotensho."** She whispered. Sasori's eyes widened at her whispered words and moved to stop her, but he was too late. Her hand curled into a fist and she let out a fearsome cry as it descended to the forest floor.

"Haaa!"

The ground below her began to fissure between her and Tobi. Sasori took that moment to grab Sakura and Shunshin her away. Relieved to feel her there in his arms he directed his attention to the clearing dust and mysterious Akatsuki man.

Ominous laughter echoed through the field. "Very interesting indeed Sakura-chan. But I really must be going. Be a good girl for Tobi." The man said as he disappeared from sight. There was a long silence while both Sakura and Sasori sorted out their thoughts.

"Sasori-sensei?"

"Sakura-chan?"

"Did you know him? Is he from where you're from?"

"No I have never seen him before in the-... from where I'm from."

"I see. Sasori-sensei… I was weak."

His eyes widen. She attempted to take on a man with greater chakra than even my own. Foolish, yes, but never weak. "I wouldn't be teaching you if I thought you were weak. Do not speak such foolish things." He said stoically.

"...Thank you Sasori-sensei."

* * *

**Heyy everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the extra long chapter I wrote for you! Thank you so much for the reviews both new and old. I'd like to thank the following people especially for the great suggestions. redrose3443, and Nashane for the idea to write the Tobi/Madara scene and Sasori's/Sakura's reactions. I would also like to inform everyone, SPOILER ALERT, that in my story Tobi will be Madara even though in cannon we all know he turned out to be Obito. Thanks so much for your support: Black Moon Bunny, alice Orihara Scarlet, XxLunaHeartifiliaxX, Nitany, Aricaa-chan, and XxChemicalKatxX. **


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